Africa Turns To Sunshine To Meet Surging Power Demand

Cat:

Related stories

Wike’s Defection To APC ‘ll Make PDP, Others ‘Writhe In Pain’ — Tinubu

By Kolawole Ojebisi President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday said the...

2025 Rivers N1.48 tn Budget Done In Readiness for Fubara’s Return — Ibas

By Kolawole Ojebisi The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice...

[VIDEO] Drama As Oshiomhole, Air Peace Engage in Dirty Spat at Lagos Airport

By Abiola Olawale Air Peace, one of Nigeria’s leading airlines,...

I’m Ready To Forgive Elon Musk..We’ve to Strengthen the Country, Says Trump

By Kolawole Ojebisi US President, Donald Trump, has stated that...

Dele Momodu Tells Tinubu: You Can’t Say Nigerians are Busybodies, Bystanders to Praise Wike

By Abiola Olawale A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party...

Cut in half by the equator, sunshine is one thing that Africa has in abundance.

Now a growing number of African enterprises are tapping this under-utilised source to keep their businesses running.

One of Kenya’s largest tea producers, Williamson Tea, has installed a 1 megawatt (MW) plant at an estate in the Rift Valley, slashing grid reliance by nearly a third and reducing the need for back-up diesel generators.

Read also: Rosetta: concerns for comet lander after uneven landing

To put this in perspective, a single MW can generally power several hundred middle-class households.

SolarCentury, the company behind Williamson Tea’s installation, has also been contracted to build an 858 kilowatt plant on the parking lot of a Nairobi mall, and says there is a potential 40 MW pipeline across four east African countries.

“One thing many countries in Africa have is plenty of sunshine and now we are at a stage where the cost of solar technology can enable them to use that sunshine to get low cost power,” said SolarCentury’s regional director Dan Davies.

The British-based firm targets intensive energy users such as flower farms that need to keep cut roses refrigerated well in advance of Valentine’s or Mothers’ Day.

Over-stretched African national grids often lapse into darkness as rapid economic growth piles pressure on electricity networks already lagging demand.

The 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, with a combined population of 800 million, produce roughly the same amount of power as Spain, a country of just 46 million people.

To keep machines running, companies have had to invest in diesel generators, one of the more expensive sources of power. Governments too are contracting independent producers to run expensive heavy-oil-fired generators to plug network shortfalls.

Most sub-Saharan countries do not have much solar energy and depend on hydro-power, coal or natural gas to turn turbines.

Generators using gasoline or diesel cost at least $300 per megawatt hour (MWh), estimates the International Energy Agency (IEA), while solar power is nearly as expensive at $200 per MWh.

With hydropower typically much cheaper, at less than $75, and coal generation as little as $50 per MWh, it will take decades for solar to reach cost parity.

“If it is replacing or displacing oil-fired power, then it would make sense,” IEA analyst Brent Wanner said, adding that solar will remain most suitable as an option in remote areas.

South Africa this week added 96MW to its grid with the launch of the largest solar park on the continent in the remote and sparsely-populated Northern Cape province.

Africa’s most advanced economy is a solar power outlier, with over 500MW installed.

RWANDA NOW 7 PERCENT SOLAR

There is also a movement on the world’s poorest continent towards green alternatives such as geothermal, solar and wind, with some countries using incentives such as decades-long power purchase agreements to entice independent producers.

Some are also working on legislation to govern purchases of solar power from small producers. Kenya is piloting a metering project with privately run Strathmore University to import surplus electricity from a 600kW roof-top plant.

In Rwanda, U.S.-based Gigawatt Global connected an 8.5 MW farm on rolling green hills east of Kigali to the grid earlier this year. The $24 million farm now accounts for 7 percent of Rwanda’s power supply.

Gigawatt Global’s Sarah Halevi said the company was seeing strong demand in both west and east Africa. The company plans to build 200MW within the next 18 months in Nigeria and is targeting a 1000MW pipeline by 2020.

 

Hamilton Nwosa
Hamilton Nwosa
Hamilton Nwosa is an experienced, and committed communication, business, administrative, data and research specialist . His deep knowledge of the intersection between communication, business, data, and journalism are quite profound. His passion for professional excellence remains the guiding principle of his work, and in the course of his career spanning sectors such as administration, tourism, business management, communication and journalism, Hamilton has won key awards. He is a delightful writer, researcher and data analyst. He loves team-work, problem-solving, organizational management, communication strategy, and enjoys travelling. He can be reached at: hamilton_68@yahoo.com

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

[tds_leads input_placeholder="Your email address" btn_horiz_align="content-horiz-center" pp_msg="SSd2ZSUyMHJlYWQlMjBhbmQlMjBhY2NlcHQlMjB0aGUlMjAlM0NhJTIwaHJlZiUzRCUyMiUyMyUyMiUzRVByaXZhY3klMjBQb2xpY3klM0MlMkZhJTNFLg==" pp_checkbox="yes" tdc_css="eyJhbGwiOnsibWFyZ2luLXRvcCI6IjMwIiwibWFyZ2luLWJvdHRvbSI6IjQwIiwiZGlzcGxheSI6IiJ9LCJwb3J0cmFpdCI6eyJtYXJnaW4tdG9wIjoiMTUiLCJtYXJnaW4tYm90dG9tIjoiMjUiLCJkaXNwbGF5IjoiIn0sInBvcnRyYWl0X21heF93aWR0aCI6MTAxOCwicG9ydHJhaXRfbWluX3dpZHRoIjo3NjgsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6eyJtYXJnaW4tdG9wIjoiMjAiLCJtYXJnaW4tYm90dG9tIjoiMzAiLCJkaXNwbGF5IjoiIn0sImxhbmRzY2FwZV9tYXhfd2lkdGgiOjExNDAsImxhbmRzY2FwZV9taW5fd2lkdGgiOjEwMTksInBob25lIjp7Im1hcmdpbi10b3AiOiIyMCIsImRpc3BsYXkiOiIifSwicGhvbmVfbWF4X3dpZHRoIjo3Njd9" display="column" gap="eyJhbGwiOiIyMCIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTAiLCJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOiIxNSJ9" f_msg_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_input_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_btn_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_pp_font_family="downtown-serif-font_global" f_pp_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxNSIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTEifQ==" f_btn_font_weight="700" f_btn_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTEifQ==" f_btn_font_transform="uppercase" btn_text="Unlock All" btn_bg="#000000" btn_padd="eyJhbGwiOiIxOCIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjE0IiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxNCJ9" input_padd="eyJhbGwiOiIxNSIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjEyIiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxMCJ9" pp_check_color_a="#000000" f_pp_font_weight="600" pp_check_square="#000000" msg_composer="" pp_check_color="rgba(0,0,0,0.56)" msg_succ_radius="0" msg_err_radius="0" input_border="1" f_unsub_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_msg_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTIifQ==" f_input_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxNCIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTIifQ==" f_input_font_weight="500" f_msg_font_weight="500" f_unsub_font_weight="500"]

Latest stories

NDN
Latest News
2025 Rivers N1.48 tn Budget Done In Readiness for Fubara's Return -- Ibas[VIDEO] Drama As Oshiomhole, Air Peace Engage in Dirty Spat at Lagos AirportI'm Ready To Forgive Elon Musk..We've to Strengthen the Country, Says TrumpDele Momodu Tells Tinubu: You Can't Say Nigerians are Busybodies, Bystanders to Praise WikeOil Prices Slip Despite U.S.-China TalksDrama As Elon Musk Reverses Self on Trump, Says Criticism Went too farEx-Minister, Essien Blasts Gov Umo Eno For Piling Pressure on Lawmakers to DefectNigeria Not At War Yet Citizens Living Like Refugees In Own Country -- Peter ObiFubara's Sins 'll Be Forgiven Only If... APC2027: I'm Ready To Die For Tinubu's Victory In Abia -- KaluAtiku's Ally, Segun Sowunmi, Hints At Dumping PDP For APC, Says 'I May Likely Leave'Why I Renamed IBB's Govt Built International Conference Centre After Tinubu - WikeMy Soul Has Left PDP, Says MomoduLet’s Go To Party, By Uzor Maxim UzoatuBudget of barbarians, for brigands, by buccaneers
X whatsapp